Female jockeys' prize on hold as JCR considers new initiative

The £20,000 development award designed to give female jockeys a leg up in their careers will not be offered at Haydock on Saturday, although Jockey Club Racecourses (JCR) insist the initiative will return in some guise next year.

The scheme was introduced in 2016 with JCR dangling a sizeable carrot for any winning rider at Carlisle's all-female jockey fixture who managed to follow up in Haydock's Ladies' Trophy five days later.

Emma Sayer scooped the inaugural award and used the prize to fund her training modules as she eyes a future away from the saddle.

John Baker, regional director of JCR North West, said: “We've done it for a couple of years and it's been very successful, but we thought we'd take a step back this year to make a few tweaks and see how we can improve it.

“We're working on a mechanism that's better for someone, or a number of individuals, and plan to do something a little bit different for 2019 and beyond.

“We're keen to support females in our sport through a number of initiatives. We have the night at Carlisle, a ladies' race on Haydock's Rose of Lancaster day on Saturday and also have the Grand Women's Summit at Aintree."

The Smarkets Ladies' Trophy Handicap (1.55) will appear on ITV4 as the second race at Haydock on Saturday.

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